Automatic optical inspection (AOI) systems are well known for the inspection of printed circuit boards (PCBs), flat panel displays (FPDs) and the like. AOI systems may be used to inspect various aspects and features of such articles during manufacture or assembly thereof, such as but not limited to, conductor integrity (breaks, continuity, cracking, etc.) and dimensions, insulator or substrate integrity and dimensions, hole size and placement, via size and placement, conductor pitch, line widths and lengths, artwork features, paste, component placement, solder joint defects and so forth.
After AOI, the article may typically be conveyed to a verification station for verifying whether defects discovered during inspection are real defects. If defects are verified as being real defects, the article may then pass on to a correction station for correcting those defects which are correctable (not all defects can be corrected). In the prior art, the verification station and the correction station comprise a unit which is located separately from the AOI unit.